Digging Deep: A Culture of Hope (Mark 1:40-2:12)

Psalm 1 describes the blessed person as one who has dug deep into God’s Word, making it the source of his daily meditation. In pursuit of this kind of blessed life, we briefly review the sermon from the previous Sunday. May you be like a tree planted by streams of water, bearing fruit in its season (Psalm 1:3). This week we look back at Pastor Kim’s sermon on Mark 1:40-2:12.

An excerpt:

“… you are a counselor – one way or another you are advising people; you are revealing to others your sense of truth; you are arguing for a worldview; you are exhorting some sort of action or inaction; you are encouraging hope and trust and worship in something or someone. Now Ephesians 4:29 offers really two outcomes to our counsel: ‘Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.’ – Build up, or corrupt – Think about that for a moment, you are a counselor and you are constantly counseling with two consistent outcomes: grace or corruption. You are either building someone up or tearing them down. One way or the other you are speaking into someone’s life. You are either a faithful counselor or a poor and maybe even dangerous counselor.”

Question: As you look at your life, are you someone who is building up or tearing down? Is there someone, or someones, you need to do a better job building up?

“And really this is the heart of gospel-centered biblical counseling – to bring people before Jesus; to do what we must, even at great cost to lay people before their Savior. Now in this time, we can’t bring people before the physical person of Jesus, so that is why we must bring them before Scripture, to show them Jesus as revealed in the Bible. I mentioned earlier that we are all counselors and we are always counseling, and the heart of wise and loving counsel is this: to bring people to Jesus through his Word. It is the Word and the power of the Holy Spirit that reveals sin and encourages repentance; that builds faith and wisdom; that brings comfort to the lonely and suffering; that helps people see the work of God in them, even in their suffering; that encourages worship as it reveals Christ, the only one truly worthy of our worship; that offers true hope… grace saturated, gospel driven hope.”

Encouragement: Spend some time coming before Jesus in humble prayer and adoration. Bring your struggles to him. Pray through the gospel contemplating God’s incredible grace in your life, and then spend some time worship thanking him for his mercy.

“Lighthouse has to be a place where people can find hope; where it is ok to struggle; where they can share their problems and sufferings and sin… and in that be absolutely convinced that someone will speak grace and truth into their life, saying not what they want to hear, but what they need to hear; believing that the person will love them relentlessly and walk with them through the joys and sorrows and struggles of life… The church has to be a hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints.” 

Question: Is there someone you know who need help and hope? Someone you can encourage and build up? Spend some time in prayer for them, then seek a way to encourage them this week.